Apocalypse Now Comes to London

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2003)

"28 Days Later. . ." is a gritty, contemporary re-interpretation of the nexus of the genres of intellectual-post-apocalypse humans-messing-with-nature sci fi (like "Omega Man" and "On the Beach") and bloody zombie horror (including pod people), as well as virus threats (like "Andromeda Strain") that are no longer idle speculation.
"Vanilla Sky" tried to capture a similar mise en scene with the opening dream scene in a deserted Times Square, but that was about the star from those opening shots. Director Danny Boyle uses skinny accidental hero Cillian Murphy amidst scans of the freakishly deserted London (there's a thanks in the credits to all the officers who held back the city traffic), while John Murphy's music plays up the fear, confusion, and the unknown.

Alex Garland's script is particularly insightful about human reactions, feelings, and relationships amidst disaster, especially how tropic we are towards hope and connection, such that the grim line "Women are about the future" put a chill down my spine. The actions and appearances of the trustworthy and the untrustworthy can seem identical visually without context, making judgments instantaneously necessary and risky (for us and the characters)--is that a passionate kiss or an attacking bite?

We really care about the individuals unpredictably meeting their fates, as we're given just enough background to make them believable and real, as it comes full circle on the issue of being humane. Though there's no big-name stars, I recognized the excellent actors from Brit TV mini-series (and did have a little problem with the accents and slang now and then).

The ending, that feels like its in color in contrast to rest that seems to be more in shades of black-and-white and bloody red, does seem a bit tacked on, though a key clue is introduced just before the climax.

The digital video was occasionally blurry in the print I saw; I don't know if that was intentional or if the DVD will look better, but it's a very visually communicative film.